Boerne, the county seat of
Kendall County, was platted in 1852. Gustav Theissen bought 1100 acres of land
and his friend John James platted the townsite on the north side of Cibolo
Creek. August Staffel opened the first Post Office and stagecoach stop at his
home at the edge of the creek. He had stables for the horses to be changed or
refreshed. On the creek east of the Staffel establishment William Dietert built
a dam to power a sawmill and gristmill. William sent for his younger brother,
Heinrich, to join him in his business enterprise. Heinrich built his home on the
south side of the creek near the dam.

The pioneers used the abundant
limestone for building homes and businesses although there we notice that there
were many wooden structures built for quick usage. These wooden buildings were
easily destroyed if a fire started.

The first school was
probably in a log house located near the location of the later 1870's two room
limestone school building.

The first Church in Boerne was
St. Peter Catholic Church built about 1867 on a hill south of Cibolo Creek and
actually outside of town at that time.

Boerne became known as a health
and vacation meca and as a result many hotels were opened. These were large
homelike structures with many bedrooms, a large dining room and parlors. The
Boerne Hotel (Kendall Inn) and the St. James may have been the only ones
actually built for the purpose of being a hotel. The Kendall Inn grew from a
stagecoach inn to a hotel. The Vogt Hotel, the Schertz Hotel, the O'Grady House
were private homes opened to the public because of the need. Trains brought
week-end visitors to the town from San Antonio.

Early in the 20th century Boerne
joined the modern world in adding electricity, telephones and telegraph to its
services. The town was incorporated in 1909 and became a city operating under an
aldermanic form of Government. In May 1912 the City Council granted permission
to build the first low water concrete bridge across Cibolo Creek. It was 1920
before the Main Street was hard topped.